Article 20 of the Organic Law of the Bank of Cape Verde of 1993 states that the Bank of Cape Verde (BCV) is responsible for centralizing and preparing monetary, financial, exchange, and balance of payments statistics.

As one of the agencies that produce sectoral statistics, the BCVis part of the National Statistics System. Pursuant to Article 5 of the Basic Law on the National Statistics System (Law 15/V/96), agencies that produce sectoral statistics are authorized to make available, disclose, and disseminate the results of activities for which they are responsible, without prejudice to compliance with the rules on statistical secrecy.

The monetary surveyand the balance of payments statistics are not made available to government authorities before their release. Consequently, once the consistency of the monetary survey and the balance of payments has been verified by technical staff and by the Director of the Statistics and Economic Research Department, they are released simultaneously for all users.

The Balance of Payments is a quarterly statistical table summarizing the economic transactions of Cape Verde residents with the rest of the world.

Cape Verde’s balance of payments is compiled in Cape Verde escudos by the Statistics and Economic Research Department of the Bank of Cape Verde, following the Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition (BPM5).

Balance of payments statistics are compiled in two presentations, standard and analytical, but only the analyticalpresentation is disseminated.

The data for balance of payments statistics come essentially from three main sources: foreign trade statistics (General Directorate of Customs), foreign exchange records (from banks), and surveys of various public or private enterprises and institutions operating in the country.

The residency concept adopted is based on the center of economic interest of theunit engaged in the transaction, as defined in the BPM5.

Since January 1999, balance of payments statistics (standard and analytical presentations) have beencompiled in accordance with the methodological recommendations of the BPM5.

The balance of payments standard presents all transactions between residents and nonresidents, classified in the current account and the capitalandfinancial operations account.

The balance of payments analytical presentationpresents the above-the-line transactions(current accountand capitaland financial operations account, errors and omissions and overall balance) and below-the-line transactions (reserve assets and exceptional financing). The current account includes themain standardof goods, services, income, and current transfers. The capital account includes all transfers that imply change of ownership of fixed assets in connection with the acquisition, donation, or disposal of fixed assets. It also includes debt forgiveness by creditors. The financial accountincludes transactions associated with transfer of ownership of financial assets(direct investment, portfolio investment and other investments). Balance of payments financing (below-the-line) consists of reserve assets and exceptional financing (drawings on new loans and external debt arrears).

The balance of payments is presented in Cape Verde escudos (CVE). All foreign currency transactions are converted in CVE at the average monthly exchange rates of the respective currencies.

Time of recording:

Transactions are recorded the time that economic value is created, transformed, exchanged, transferred or extinguished, according to BPM5. Imports and exports are recorded when they cross the national frontiers. Investment income isrecorded on an accrual basis.

The balance of payments compilation results from the combination of several data sources, including foreign exchange and administrative records, accounting balances, and surveys of various enterprises and public or private institutions.

Foreign trade statistics (General Directorateof Customs) are used primarily to compile data on imports and exports of goods, on an f.o.b. basis, as well as goods for processing (balance of goods), sea transportfreight (balance of services), and current and capital transfers in goods (balance of transfers and capital account).

Foreign exchange records, obtained from banks (central and commercial), classified by type of operation and by executing entity, provide values for the entire range of transactions between resident and nonresident entities of our economy, through the financial system.

Surveys are a fundamental supplement to the other sources. They cover practically all industries. Data are collected from foreign investment enterprises, as well as domestic enterprises engaged in activities with the rest of the world (nonresidents), transport sector enterprises (sea and air, both domestic and foreign), tourism sector enterprise, financial institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foreign embassies, international organizations, General Directorateof International Cooperation, and others.

Data on imports and exports of goods are compiled based on information from the General Directorateof Customs.

Data on trade of goods for processing, goods acquired in ports and airports by transportation enterprises, and repair of goods are obtained from foreign exchange records and surveys of free-trade enterprises, transportation and fuel enterprises, as well as from the Customs.

Services:

Records obtained through the financial system provide most of the data for transportation, travel and other services. This information is supplemented by surveys of enterprises (transportation, tourism, communications, insurance, construction, etc.) and by information from the postal services and the General Directorate of Customs.

Income:

The major income components, labor income (compensation of employees) and investment income (distributed and reinvested dividends and earnings) are based essentially on foreign exchange records, the Ministry of Finance recordsand surveys of enterprises.

Current transfers:

Data sources for the compilation of public transfers include the Directorate of International Cooperation (projects portfolio), as well as surveys of international organizations, foreign embassies, NGOs, and other entities.

Other sources for the compilation of transfers (public and other) are the foreign exchange records (when transfers are made via the banking system), the Directorate of Customs (transfers in goods), and the postal services (transfers from emigrants via postal money order).

Capital transfers:

The data come essentially from general government sources (Ministry of Finance,General Directorateof the Treasury) and General Directorateof Customs.

Direct investment:

The major sources of data for the compilation of foreign direct investment are the Markets Department of the Bank of Cape Verde and the surveys of foreign investment enterprises.

Other investments:

Statistical data on other investments come from the Directorate General of the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance, the Markets Department of the Bank of Cape Verde, the commercial banks (private sector commercial credit), and surveys of foreign investment enterprises.

Reserves:

Reserves are compiled based on information from the Monetary Statistics Area of the Department of Statistics and Economic Research of the Bank of Cape Verde.

Exceptional Financing:

The primary sources of data on exceptional financing operations are the Directorate General of the Treasury (Ministry of Finance) and the Markets Department of the Central Bank of Cape Verde.

Foreign trade statistics are used primarily to compile data on imports and exports of goods, on an f.o.b. basis, as well as goods for processing (goods), sea transport of freight (services), grants and emigrants’ remittances in goods (transfers and capital account).

Coverage adjustments are made to exports (Free Shop sales) and to imports (fuel enterprise imports, which enter the customs warehouse and are subsequently re-exported).

Except for merchandise tradein general, foreign exchange records obtained from banks (central and commercial), classified by type of operation and by executing entity, provide values for the entire range of transactions between resident and nonresident entities of our economy undertaken, through the financial system. No adjustments are normally done to these data.

Surveys are a fundamental supplement to the other sources. They cover practically all industries. Data are collected from foreign investment enterprises, as well as domestic enterprises engaged in activities with the rest of the world (nonresidents), transport sector enterprises (sea and air, both domestic and foreign), tourism sector enterprises, financial institutions, NGOs, foreign embassies, international organizations, Directorate General of International Cooperation, etc. However, survey responses are subject to significant delays. When this is the case, and given the need for timely information, the balance of paymentscompilors estimate the missing information by analyzing evolution trends of the different balance of payments components. Revisions are later made based on the actual data obtained. Statistics on the International Investment Position (IIP) are not yet compiled.

Balance of payments statistics are compiled on the standard and analytical presentation, but only the analyticalpresentation is disseminated.

In addition to the analytical presentation table,quarterly dataare disseminated for imports and exports by product, and by direction of trade, emigrants’ remittances by country of origin and by municipality of destination, on a quarterly basis, for the last three years.

Although there is no established policy on revisions of the monetary survey statistics, it should be noted that when the data do not arrive on time or when there is some change in the methodology, the public is notified of the status of the data (provisional or final) in a footnote.

Periodically ( and/or quarterly), revisions are made to the balance of payments statistical data compiled and disseminated, although there is no established policy for this.

Balance of payments

Data compiled and disseminated on a provisional basis are revised quarterly. In general, no seasonal adjustments are made.

The balance of payments statistics cover all transactions between Cape Verde’s resident units (Government, Monetary Authority, Financial Sector and other sectors) and nonresidents.Thedata cover the entire territory of Cape Verde. The balance of payments is compiled in Cape Verde escudos by the Statistics and Economic Research Department of the BCV, in accordance with BPM5.

The Bank of Cape Verde simultaneously publishes monetary and financial statistics and balance of payments statistics on its website and in hard copy form (the latter, with a short delay from the electronic dissemination).

There is no national publication containing the methodology for the compilation of Cape Verde’s balance of payments. Summary informationon this methodology is published in the IMF's Balance of Payments Yearbook.

Since 1999, Cape Verde’s balance of payments has beencompiled in accordance with the methodological recommendations of the BPM5. Thebalance of payments for the years 1997 and 1998compiled in accordance with the methodology of the Fund’s fourth editionmanual, have been converted to the methodology of the fifth manual.

To improve Cape Verde’s balance of payments statistics in accordance with the BPM5 guidelines, new information sources were developed (enterprise surveys and a new notification system for international transactions) and various other procedures for estimating balance of payments items were introduced.

In January 2002, the sample for quarterly surveys was redefined to make it more representative and effective.

The Department of Statistics and Economic Research is carrying out the Foreign Investment Project to improve the data on foreign direct investment in Cape Verde.

Prepare and disseminate the methodologies used to compile the monetary and financial statistics.

Notify the public when a change is made in the methodology and when the provisional data are adjusted.

Develop release calendars for monetary and financial statistics and for balance of payments statistics, and disseminate them to the public.

Balance of payments

Simplify the enterprise survey forms and adapt them more closely to the circumstances of the entity being surveyed, with a view to obtaining better quality responses and a higher response rate.

To improve the data on tourism, which are believed to be underestimated, plans for the short‑term include resumption of the tourism project with the Ministry of Justice, and the General Directorateof Customs (estimate tourist expenditure, based on the actual number of tourists entering the country).

Start preparing IIP reconciliation tables for 2000 and 2001. However, theInternational Investment Position statistics will only be published when the foreign direct investment data are considered satisfactory for the balance of payments.

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